JK’s visits to Brazil bear more fruits

By a Correspondent, Dar es Salaam

Seven major Brazilian companies dealing with agriculture has shown interest to come and invest in Tanzania.

The companies’ visit to Tanzania over the weekend is credited to a visit done by President Jakaya Kikwete in Brazil in April this year where he talked about the agriculture investment potential available in his country among other things.

“We are happy today to witness results of the President’s visit to Brazil early this year,” the Acting Executive Director of Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), Mr. Raymond Mbilinyi told journalists over the weekend in Dar es Salaam.

Explaining further on the visit of the Brazilian companies comprised of eleven people, Mr. Mbilinyi said that they came to get first hand information on various aspects on investment potentials especially on agriculture.

The companies deal mainly with soya, sugarcane, corn and cotton cultivation.

Mr. Mbilinyi said that TIC among others told the delegation of the opportunities in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) and the government’s Agriculture First initiative or Kilimo Kwanza as is popularly called.

“We told them the benefits and incentives they can get once they invest in Tanzania,” Mr. Mbilinyi said.

In the process to know more about Tanzania, the Brazilian delegate also met other government agencies and officials.

“Such investors will help creating a strong base of tax payers and develop agriculture sector in the country by bringing in new technologies by collaboration with our farmers,” he said.

The Chief Executive officer of UPL Group who coordinated the visit, Mr. Jai Shroff said Tanzania is a focus country for the Grow Africa Project which is a G8 initiative and that UPL Group is a key member of this initiative to make Africa self sustainable in agriculture and food production.

He said apart from bringing high tech agriculture to Africa, the initiative also seeks to train small holder farmer on the modern agricultural practice.

“The initiative seeks to create small communities of farmers and train them on better farming techniques along with large scale farmers,” he said.

On her part, the Deputy Executive Director of SAGCOT, Ms. Jenipher Baain expressed her gratitude on the visit of Brazilian companies to Tanzania.

“I am very happy to this visit.  It explains on the type of investors we would like to attract and work with,” she said, adding that they are ready to do business in agriculture and take investors very seriously.

Apart from Tanzania, the delegation also visits Mozambique, Southern Sudan and Ethiopia.

Ends